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overlander63 · 01-11-2010, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmehal

Just thought of a question, what is the cutoff year for smog testing? Is it different per state?

Cutoff year is different for each state, and in some cases, county and city. It is most often 1975, the first year most cars were equipped with catalytic converters. Many states exempt motor homes or trucks over a certain weight, usually 10,000 pounds.

sharbours · 01-11-2010, 10:11 PM

Yay! Glad to hear it arrived; sorry the tow company was lousy. Good luck with the waterproofing; hopefully you don't find many (or any!) leaks. Especially since rain is in the forecast for most of the next week or so...

Post more pictures when you have the time!

Sharon & Sean

Gypsy Jo · 01-11-2010, 10:37 PM

Glad she made it to you.Now the fun begins!!

gmehal · 01-13-2010, 09:39 PM

We picked-up a new battery for the Argosy today, plugged-in, added 10 gallons of fresh fuel. With a little coaxing, the 454 fired right up! The other nice thing is that most everything else seemed to work, once fired-up: generator, lights, command center guages, and basically all electrical. Stay tuned for updates!

sharbours · 01-13-2010, 09:53 PM

Wow - that's great to hear! Can't wait for the next update. Good luck!

Sharon & Sean

Gypsy Jo · 01-13-2010, 11:10 PM

You are so lucky and I am soo jealous.
Congrats on the running.
Jo

gmehal · 01-20-2010, 05:50 PM

Ok heres the latest.

Got a locksmith to come out and now all doors etc open with the exception of the refrig door. For some reason that one just wont budge.

Upon opening all those lower compartments most of them had lots of road junk in them like jacks, wood blocks, chain etc. All of it has clearly been there a while so when it gets dry into the trash it goes! Nice thing is that all the locks work.

The generac generator was interesting when that door opened. Very little oil in generator so I filled it up and amazingly it turned right over. Unfortunatly it wont start. The small hours gauge next to it has all zeros indicating that it has NEVER been used or the gauge isnt working. I will check the spark plug next, any other thoughts on would be much appreciated.

Next was stopping a few nasty leaks up on the dash board. Determined that most of them were coming from the upper running lights which have no gaskets. Quick fix was some foil tape. this worked great and stopped 95% of the leaks. Still a small one there but I think thats from the window gasket, time will tell. Anyone know if inland rv carries the running light gaskets?

Next I looked at the main and Aux holding tanks. Main was empty but the aux was 1/4 full. Went out and easily opened the Aux tank and water came spilling out, nothing nasty. Then I tried the Main valve and its stuck shut. Any thoughts on how to free it up or gain access to it?

Next was the water pump. Tank had a bit of water in it. Activated pump and heard the sink gurgle for a while. then like magic the water came out of the faucet at every location except toilet. The flow was slow but steady. I noticed that after doing this test there was alot of water on the ground in the rear. The city water connection gasket was disintegrated clearly creating a big pressure loss. Hopefully thats why the flow wasn't stellar. The toilet has 2 foot pedals, large and small. I know the large is the dump and I assume the small is the flush. The small one is extremely stiff and no matter how many times I forced it down and up no water. I also made sure the valve was open under sink but still no luck. Any thoughts?

Lastly today I noticed that near the gas pedal there was an Edelbrock Vari-jection box hooked up. Thi sis an old school water injection system. Funky, wonder if it works.

arcamedies · 01-20-2010, 06:41 PM

WOW ! what a find, looks great.

Good luck on the drive train you could have the buy of the year.

sharbours · 01-20-2010, 07:56 PM

The main tank valve is jammed? If it's the black tank, it's probably glued shut with some nasty crusty stuff around the blade and the rubber lined slot it fits into. About 5 gallons of really hot water will help loosen it up if the tank is dry. If it's still partially full though, it could be ugly. Somebody on the forum may have posted a magic mixture for dissolving the stuff glued to the blade, but I don't know of any personally. Maybe a gallon of hot Wesson Oil or similar?

Sean & Sharon
'75 Argosy 24'

gmehal · 01-20-2010, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sharbours

The main tank valve is jammed? If it's the black tank, it's probably glued shut with some nasty crusty stuff around the blade and the rubber lined slot it fits into. About 5 gallons of really hot water will help loosen it up if the tank is dry. If it's still partially full though, it could be ugly. Somebody on the forum may have posted a magic mixture for dissolving the stuff glued to the blade, but I don't know of any personally. Maybe a gallon of hot Wesson Oil or similar?

Sean & Sharon
'75 Argosy 24'

Good idea! now that I know the propane works, forgot to mention that, I will boil some water and dump it in there. Luckily the tank gauge says is empty but who knows. Hey do you 2 have any pictures of your Argosy?

sharbours · 01-21-2010, 10:13 AM

Glad the propane works! One more system you can cross off the list. Let us know if the hot water takes care of the stuck valve. Hopefully that will be all it needs.

We do have some pictures posted here - underneath our profile info on the left hand side of the post you'll see "Images: 11" and beneath that "Blog entries: 1", with the numbers in blue. Click on those blue numbers and it will take you to our pictures. We also have some in the "Airstream Registry" section.

Can't wait to see your new toy!

gmehal · 02-01-2010, 10:24 AM

Update!! Started to tear into the Argosy. Carpet is out! What nasty dank stuff that was. My wife worked on that while my friend and I removed the radiator. Now that was a chore! Had to take it out through the bottom which meant we had to jack up the front of the trailer super high. Now its off to the radiator shop for a recore. Next I will be testing the engine compression before I start replacing things like the PS pump and water pump, etc. Also water heater works! and so does the gas for the fridge. The suburban furnace fan spins right up but wont light. Will be checking to see if there is a gas valve behind it somewhere that is not turned on.
Will post pictures later today

gmehal · 02-01-2010, 08:05 PM

Heres the latest photos. Carpet is out and so are the cushions... New foam will be ready next week.

gmehal · 02-02-2010, 04:03 PM

Solved my shore power electrical problem! It was a faulty plug on the shore power end. Simply replaced and now shore power works for everything!!

Hooray!!

RichHog · 02-02-2010, 05:41 PM

So are you taking out that orange formica? Guess there's not much you can do about the plaid fabric on the Captain's chairs?
Also would love to hear the story on how you settled on $120 as a purchase price? M]We ALL want to acquire those negotiiating skills!

Aage · 02-02-2010, 07:29 PM

Why the heck would he take out the orange Formica? It looks beee-yooo-tee-ful! (really!) And they do not make it that strudy anymore, either...

And if you do, gmehal, there's an airforum user that is dying for a piece of it to compete her kitchen...

sharbours · 02-03-2010, 06:31 AM

I agree - the countertop is great! And if the orange plaid on the seats doesn't do it for you, there's always seat covers.

You're making great progress - kudos on figuring out the shore power situation. You are going to have so much fun with your new toy this summer!

Sharon

gmehal · 05-15-2010, 11:30 PM

Here are some of the latest pics. Been working our tails off on the argosy!

Heres the rundown: New re-cored radiator with better core. Initially removed the radiator through the bottom (PITA). Much later discovered it can be removed MUCH easier after removing the whole doghouse. Also installed new oil cooler and AC compressor as well as new fan clutch, alternator, water pump, PS pump, master cylinder, belts and hoses. Hey I was in there and the parts are cheap even when buying the best parts. Added new plugs, MSD wires and coil and most importantly a fuel injection system. Went with the Professional Products PowerJection 3 kit with integrated computer and O2 sensor for self tuning. The thing runs AMAZING now and idles perfectly. It also has altitude compensation and fuel cutoff on decel. Way more responsive than the old quadrajet carb. I had to rework the intake for the fuel injection unit as it sits higher than the stock unit, found some good solutions for that that Ill share later. Also installed a custom built 2.5 to 3 inch single side exhaust, love it and soo much simpler.

Wheel wise we found some used 16's and got rid of the 16.5's. Have new brake pads and lines but so far the brakes seem to work well. New shocks and airbags up front but still need new rear shocks and front sway bar bushings.

Exterior has been throughly cleaned, what an amazing difference just doing that. Orange trim inserts from Inland RV installed and look great. Installed new Ramco mirrors, now I can actually see whats next to me, imagine that.
Installed New Bosch headlights, way better light output with the 100 watt bulbs instead of the 55w. Currently vinyl wrapping the front cap and installing LED lighting for the running lights. New window seals just came in from Inland RV. Just did the front driver window, schledge went in in a breeze but unhappy with the outer trim moulding, dosent fit that well and is supposed to allow rain to run off but the way some of it sits it seems more like a water catch! Must figure that on out. All storage bind on lower exterior have been POR-15ed inside. Generac Generator works but needs new muffler, misfires every now and them but works.

Interior has had many changes as well. New intellapower and fuse box. New 20amp outlets, Original orange shag carper GONE! Kraco crappy stereo gone, Sticky steering wheel still there and I need to wear gloves when driving it or my hands turn black. New foam and with my wifes excellent taste and sewing abilities we now have all new cushions and curtains. Fixed both waste tank drain valves so now they both open and shut. Re grounded water pump so now that works constantly. Tried to fill water tank and ran into a problem. Hose that connects tank to exterior inlet leaks. The connector pipe is this weird black hard plastic, I expected rubber. Rubber is whats going back in. Roof AC interior blower motor is shot, hoping I can repair or replace motor and not whole unit but well see. Suburban furnace is odd. With gas on at main and thermostat set to on the fan blows nut no heat. Simply cannot figure out how to light the damn thing. Seems like its an auto ignition because theres no manual lighter etc. Any thought would be great. Water heater generally works but after some time it starts to leak out of the main flame tube outside! seems like I need a new one. Fridge seems to light but wont stay lit, Haven't looked into that yet but soon. All and all thats about it. A good interior wipe down and clean is all thats needed.

Minnie's Mate · 05-16-2010, 09:22 AM

You are going to have such a great Argosy when you are finished and will have so much less invested than if you had bought one off of Ebay and had to do the same repairs.

nohillgrish · 05-16-2010, 10:23 AM

You are making amazing progress. Thanks for the detail of projects tackled and results. Just curious about the before and after exterior cleaning photo's. I understood you to say you just gave it a good cleaning. However, in one of the photo's it looks like windows are taped off as you would for painting. Whatever you've done, the "after" photo looks great!!